Mobile Key to Zynga's Earnings

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Mobile will be a key focus of Zynga's(ZNGA) fourth quarter earnings results which the social gaming firm delivers Tuesday after the bell.

The announcement will be Zynga's first ever quarterly report since its $1 billion IPO in December and the company is seeking to show Wall Street that it can move outside of Facebook's shadow.

While Facebook accounts for the majority of Zynga's revenue--around 94% -- the maker of games like CityVille and FarmVille is trying to prove that it can succeed on its own.

It's important that Zynga find a way to distance itself from Facebook. The social gaming giant takes a 30% cut of all revenue Zynga earns on its platform.

Zynga's solution? Mobile.

Boosted by popular mobile titles like Words with Friends and Hanging With Friends Zynga's daily average users on mobile platforms grew ten-fold from November 2010 to September 2011 to 11.1 million.

Last year, Zynga released 10 games across iOS and Android alone and poached Electronic Arts(EA) exec Barry Cottle, who ran the video game publisher's mobile and social games business.

It also acquired eight small mobile gaming companies including German company Gamedoctors and San Francisco-based Page44 Studios.

This year, the majority of games Zynga releases may be mobile, according to JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth. Ammuth expects the company to publish 14 to 15 games this year, 10 of which may be for smartphones.

Analysts are largely bullish on Zynga's ability to transition from Facebook to mobile platforms.

"For Zynga, mobile platforms represent a significant growth opportunity, in our view, as these platforms mature and app market share naturally consolidates to the leading game developers," Robert Baird analyst Colin Sebastian wrote in a recent research note.

But while the number of active users on Zynga's mobile titles continues to grow, the company's ability to translate these users into revenue may be a struggle, said Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia.

Analysts are expecting earnings of 3 cents per share on revenue of $302 million for the December-ended quarter. Looking forward, analysts are hoping for earnings of 4 cents per share on revenue of $319 million for the current quarter which ends in March.

--Written by Olivia Oran in New York.

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